To see a tiger in the wild is without doubt one of the greatest thrills there is in the natural world and if you really want to see one, Bandhavgarh, is without doubt, one of THE best places. This is due to the fact that the reserve has the highest density of tigers per square kilometre to be found anywhere in the world. To increase your chances still further, the parks guides are extremely knowledgeable and set out every morning on elephant back in search of signs. Visitors enter the park by jeep but if a tiger (or tigers) is found lying away from the beaten track, elephants are summoned and you can climb onto an elephant and trundle off through the often dense bush to get an incredibly close view. The tigers are used to the presence of elephants and are not worried by them enabling you to get a taste of completely natural tiger behaviour. The tigers here are very productive and it is not unusual for a mother to successfully raise up to four cubs from one litter. If you are lucky with your timing family sightings are not unusual and offer fantastic potential to the photographer.

Bandhavgarh is in the heart of India, set amongst the Vindya hills of Madhya Pradesh. The park consists of over 400 sq. Km of spectacular scenery. It truly is a very beautiful place with high escarpments where the vultures wheel, rolling hills, lush meadows and deciduous woodland. An ancient fort is found in the centre of the reserve built atop cliffs 300 metres above the surrounding countryside. Nearby caves contain Brahmi inscriptions that date as far back as the 1st century BC. Countless spotted deer are everywhere who along with the large sambar deer provide the tigers with the mainstay of their diet. Chinkara and barking deer are also found. Black faced langurs and rhesus macaque are also common and often provide comical examples of monkey behaviour. It is also possible to spot many other animals like the sloth bear, wild dogs, leopard, jackal and porcupine.Birdlovers are well catered for too with gray and occasional malabar hornbills, white bellied drongo, tickell’s blue flycatcher and purple sunbirds amongst the 150 species so far listed though this list is still growing as the park gets more popular and better known.

The park is open from the beginning of November to the end of June.This reserve is well worth a visit just for its scenery alone and a great time can be had even if you don’t see a tiger. However, if a tiger is top of your list then plan to spend at least 4 days here and you can almost be guaranteed a sighting.